Quality
 
Is it safe?

There are really two aspects to water quality of concern to SEKID users. The first is safety; the second is appearance (cloudiness).

It is against the law to knowingly deliver non-potable water to the public and SEKID takes this responsibility very seriously. In the event of a disinfection system failure or any other situation that might put the safety of the water supply in question, a boil water advisory will be issued immediately.

Our customers need to be aware that SEKID provides only a single form of water treatment to our surface water supply. All our surface water is treated with chlorine and this provides 4 log protection against viruses (99.99%), 3 log protection (99.9%) against the  protozoa that cause giardasis  (beaver fever), and complete elimination of bacteria under normal operating conditions. The SEKID surface water system does not provide protection against the protozoa that causes cryptosporidiosis.  We advise anyone with a compromised immune system to not drink water originating from our surface water system. This includes all areas of the District except for the Hall Road Area, which receives well water.

For a detailed explanation of the options and cost to improve our water quality to the recommended standards in the Guideline for Canadian Drinking Water Quality, please review our most recent report entitled Water Supply and Treatment: Summary Report. More background, information and technical reports can be found under News & Reports on this site.

Our safety record at SEKID is commendable. Despite limited source water protection in our community watershed and seasonal variability in colour and turbidity, the district has been able to operate and maintain our water treatment system with no reported health problems.

This is to the credit of the SEKID water system and operators and the close partnership that has been established with local health authorities. The district has invested heavily in disinfection and monitoring systems to help insure the water delivered to our customers is safe to drink. We have specially trained certified water distribution system operators to make sure the system is maintained and operated properly. Monthly water quality reports are sent to the local health authority and the local Health Officer regularly samples SEKID’s water supply to both audit the district’s performance and add another layer of control over the safety of the water supply.

In the meantime, the Board of Trustees is committed to finding ways to improve the protection of our source water through better regulation of the many activities occurring within our crown land watershed. Reducing the likelihood of source water contamination through regulation of watershed activities adds another barrier to the multi-barrier approach to public health protection and enhances the safety of our water supply.